Second-Term Blues

Alongside the endless (and I do mean endless, I didn't even get through it all before throwing up my hands) ink spilled in this morning's papers on the Indictment a la Libby, the NYTimes has a handy little guide to the second-term troubles in past administrations. It's worth a read, if only for historical interest. Among the tidbits:

- "The last sitting White House staff member to be indicted may have been Orville Babcock, Ulysses S. Grant's private secretary, who was charged in 1875 with a group of whiskey distillers in a conspiracy to defraud the government of taxes."

- Since Eisenhower, only Nixon has had a lower approval rating than President Bush during his second term: Eisenhower's dipped to 48%, Reagan's to 42%, and Clinton's only to 55% - each stood at or above 60% at the end of their terms. A recent WaPo/ABC poll put Bush's approval rating at 39% (the most recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup number is 42%, which would tie Bush with Reagan except that Reagan's disapprove number was only 46% - Bush's is 55%).

It is time for a serious course correction.